Jones Claims 51st Southern Texas PGA Professional Championship

August 28th, 2019

RICHMOND, TEXAS --- Jared Jones, PGA Director of Instruction at River Oaks Country Club, claimed the 51st Southern Texas PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, Club Car, Nine Iron Wines, and OMEGA by three strokes over Ben Kern, PGA Head Professional at Georgetown Country Club. Jones recorded rounds of 72-66-70---208(-8) to capture his first-ever STPGA title.

“It is very exciting and humbling to win my first major,” said Jones. “Without the support of my family, I would not be here. I’m very thankful.”

Jones shared the lead with Greg Hiller, PGA Director of Instruction at TPC San Antonio, going into Wednesday’s final round. After a double-bogey on Hole 10, Jones rebounded and never looked back.

“I got off to a pretty solid start,” said Jones. “I had a lot of good putts and made some solid pars. I double-bogeyed Hole 10 but rebound from there. After that hole, I became really focused on each shot and made a lot of good swings.”
For his victory, Jones took home a check for $7,800.

Jones will lead six other STPGA Professionals to the 2020 PGA Professional Championship, presented by Cadillac, Club Car, and OMEGA. Joining him will be Kern, Hiller, Robert Thompson, PGA Teaching Professional at Whispering Pines Golf Club, Ben Willman, PGA Teaching Professional at Axis Golf Academy, Jesse Droemer, PGA Head Professional at Wildcat Golf Club, and Darrell Fuston, PGA Director of Golf at The Woodlands Country Club. The Championship will be contested April 26-29, 2020 at Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin. The top 20 players from the 2020 PGA Professional Championship will compete in the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, set for May 14-17, 2020.

Casey Russell, PGA Head Professional at Golfcrest Country Club, is automatically exempt into the 2020 PGA Professional Championship with his top-20 finish at the 2019 PGA Professional Championship at Belfair in May. Omar Uresti is also exempt into the 2020 event after winning the Championship in 2017.

This 54-hole event was the final of five individual stroke play championships that comprise the OMEGA Player of the Year Points List. It also served as a qualifier to earn points towards making the 2019 Texas Joe Black Cup Matches and Levy Cup Matches teams. Jones will also have his choice of playing in either the 2029 Houston Open or Valero Texas Open.

The automatic qualifiers onto the 39th Southern Texas PGA Texas Joe Black Cup Matches team will be announced on Tuesday, September 3.

The Southern Texas PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, Club Car, and OMEGA was hosted at Shadow Hawk Golf Club, a 7,207-yard, par 72 layout that played at 7,046-yards for this week’s Championship. This marked the first time Shadow Hawk Golf Club hosted a Major Championship for the Section.

The 2019 Southern Texas PGA Professional Championship is supported by Titleist & FootJoy, Nike, and TaylorMade. The event featured 86 PGA Members who competed for a $40,000 overall purse.